Hello all,
My 03 P5 has started to have steering issues. Driving down the road, it randomly seems to dart to one side or the
other. Have not been able to correlate the movement to one-wheel bumps or road irregularities.
The history: I recently installed a set of Eibach Pro-Kit springs all around and new KYB strut mounts in the front.
It appeared that the lower ride height increased the negative camber, so I assumed that was the problem.
Took it in for an alignment, and it still does the same thing. The tech who did the alignment test drove it, and thought it
was bump steer since the tie rods are no longer parallel to the ground since it was lowered. I mentioned the fact that it
does it randomly (even on a smooth road going in a straight line) and he said yeah, it's not bump steer.
Removed the PS/AC belt and drove it to see if maybe the PS pump is putting out fluctuating pressure; other than increased
steering effort, it didn't change the darting. Re-installed the belt.
Jacked the front end up and put it on jack stands to look for looseness. There was some play in the steering rack that wasn't
in the tie rods/ends, so I replaced the rack and pressure hose (PITA, had to drop the crossmember!). The play is gone, but
the car still randomly moves around. The outer tie rod ends and swaybar links were recently replaced and have no play.
Lower control arms were replaced a couple of years ago and still seem to be tight, couldn't feel any play in bushings, ball joints
or wheel bearings. I've replaced the front wheel bearings a couple of times so I know what those sound like when they go.
Starting to wonder if something is going on in the rear, since I changed the rear springs too. Time to put it up on a lift and
go looking for something loose back there. I'm going to kick myself if I find a loose rear strut mount bolt or something similar.
Anybody else encountered behavior like this?
My 03 P5 has started to have steering issues. Driving down the road, it randomly seems to dart to one side or the
other. Have not been able to correlate the movement to one-wheel bumps or road irregularities.
The history: I recently installed a set of Eibach Pro-Kit springs all around and new KYB strut mounts in the front.
It appeared that the lower ride height increased the negative camber, so I assumed that was the problem.
Took it in for an alignment, and it still does the same thing. The tech who did the alignment test drove it, and thought it
was bump steer since the tie rods are no longer parallel to the ground since it was lowered. I mentioned the fact that it
does it randomly (even on a smooth road going in a straight line) and he said yeah, it's not bump steer.
Removed the PS/AC belt and drove it to see if maybe the PS pump is putting out fluctuating pressure; other than increased
steering effort, it didn't change the darting. Re-installed the belt.
Jacked the front end up and put it on jack stands to look for looseness. There was some play in the steering rack that wasn't
in the tie rods/ends, so I replaced the rack and pressure hose (PITA, had to drop the crossmember!). The play is gone, but
the car still randomly moves around. The outer tie rod ends and swaybar links were recently replaced and have no play.
Lower control arms were replaced a couple of years ago and still seem to be tight, couldn't feel any play in bushings, ball joints
or wheel bearings. I've replaced the front wheel bearings a couple of times so I know what those sound like when they go.
Starting to wonder if something is going on in the rear, since I changed the rear springs too. Time to put it up on a lift and
go looking for something loose back there. I'm going to kick myself if I find a loose rear strut mount bolt or something similar.
Anybody else encountered behavior like this?